A/N: yo! I just read back on my past chapters for both this and Sage Assassin and hooo boy did I come across a whole lotta pacing issues. Like it feels clunky and so unnatural, this may be due to me only having 1200 - 1500 words per chapter, or it could be just me feeling like everyone would suddenly lose interest in my story the moment it got boring but! I'm going to change that now.

The story won't be going at breakneck speeds anymore(it'll be at limb-crushing ones instead!) and there'll be more room for nuance and just all-around more extra detail. And now that I've actually seen all the horrors plaguing my work, I gotta hand it to the people who still left a follow or a favourite(sometimes both), it means a lot. Anyways that about sums up what I wanna say and I hope you enjoy! Ajax… out!

(Note: This is one of the few issues I've only recently realized, and my fixes are very much like putting a band-aid over a bullet wound. Please give feedback if you feel the pacing is too clunky and awkward. That way, I can improve at a far faster rate than self-introspection and you get a better quality fic. Win-win for everyone!)

Kira felt breathless; he could scarcely see and his heart was beating at a mile a minute. His blood seemed to be flowing both ways and nowhere all at once. But mostly, he felt so many different emotions begin to well up and stir inside his very essence that it got to the point where he wanted to implode.

'Help… what is this? What is this?!'

Never in his 33 years of life had he ever come across this part of himself, and it felt so… so… alien.

But it wasn't the bad kind. No no no… He liked feeling this way. He didn't know why or how it came about, but this new and fleeting feeling… he wanted to keep feeling it forever.

"K-Kira-san?!" And the cause of it all…

"U-Um… are you okay? D-Do I need to call Dio-san?" ...Was the pink-haired boy fretting over him…

Kira couldn't help but laugh. He, a cold-hearted murderer, had people worried for him! Hah! He couldn't find a better joke than that if he tried.

"Kira-san? Kira-san?!"

And yet…

"Please say something, Kira-san! Why are you suddenly smiling? I-Is there something I should be doing?!" It was all playing out in reality, and he didn't know what to think...

-Gudung! Gudung! Gudung!-

But that's neither here nor there; at the moment, he had to confront a much more pressing concern, as his errant heartbeat so kindly reminded.

-Gudung! Gudung! Gudung!-

"Gah! Hah! Hah..! Ha…!" Desperate, barely audible gasps made their way out of his windpipe and into the shaking ears of Doppio above him. The boy looked scared, and he couldn't blame him.

Maybe it was exacerbated by his stand's instability as of late, or maybe that was just stress doing its thing; it didn't change the fact that Kira was, by all intents and purposes, running out of oxygen while he was contemplating the above.

He was essentially dying in Doppio's arms.

Finally unable to hold himself back, Doppio snapped, "T-That's it! I'm calling for Dio-san right away—" But before he could get up, Kira held him back by his shirt.

"Wait! I'm… I'm!" With a groan that came from his stomach, Kira dragged himself up, using both of his arms as anchors, "Don't. Fine."

"W-What?!" Worried, Doppio hastily brought his arms around Kira's in an effort to support him.

"I'm… Fine." Taking a deep breath, Kira calmed his erratic heart by force(he wasn't so brave as to use his stand. Jotaro was crazy even by his standards...)

A few minutes ago, Doppio had bumped into him, causing him to lose his balance and fall. And although he didn't know why the boy was there in the first place, he had an inkling:

You see, he had a routine of cleaning his room after breakfast, but if you took a gander at his bed, the sheets, pillows and blanket were already tidy. Furthermore, the cups and stray notebooks he'd left on his table that morning were neatly arranged on the shelves.

It was fairly clear to him— Doppio had been cleaning his room for him…

"A-Are you sure? I-I could go to Dio just to make sur—"

He shook his head, he had recovered to a manageable level at this point, "No. And anyway, you should worry about your breakfast, it's going to get cold,"

He could tell Doppio didn't want to go just yet, but after a moment's hesitation, the boy heeded his wishes and stood up to leave.

"I-I see... then I suppose you can handle yourself. I-I'll be going now," Kira watched as Doppio hurriedly stood up to leave the room.

Just as he was about to reach for the door handle, however…

"Thank you, by the way, for cleaning my room,"

For a brief moment, Doppio paused. And although Kira couldn't see it, there was a small smile on Doppio's face when he heard his gratitude.

"...Your welcome," He whispered softly, then with one quick motion, he opened the door and stepped out.

Sitting alone in the kitchen, with only one roof lamp to illuminate the room, Dio was in the process of crafting his next masterpiece.

"Hm… One cherry or two?" He had a crockery of plates and pans set neatly before him, each having been meticulously placed to maximize utility and comfort over aesthetic.

But that wasn't to say he didn't like things looking beautiful, but if there was anything in his mind that rivalled in importance to his despise of the Joestar lineage, it would be his love and adoration for cold-hearted pragmatism… with his feelings a close second.

And in this case, having things being easier to reach handily triumphed over having it look nice for a third party (especially when he didn't care about his roommate's opinions in the first place).

"Hum… I guess having two is being excessive," He leaned back on his chair, one hand placed on his chin and the other by his side as he examined his magnum opus:

On a baking paper clad tray, with a few centimetres of space in between, were a batch of steaming hot mini fruit-tarts. There were about nine tarts in total, divided into threes for only Kira, Doppio and him since Kars didn't like sweets nor grain.

'Found that out the hard way...' He shuddered to himself when he remembered how trashed the whole house was after getting the Pillarman's food wrong. And not trashed as in he just destroyed the place. No It was much much worse: Turns out Kars was so severely allergic to grain he would…

"Eurgh," He gagged, no longer wishing to even think about what happened on that day.

Fortunately, the well-timed entrance of his assistant put an end to the disturbing train of thought, and he was given privy to another set of problems.

"Dio-san!" Doppio arrived in a flurry of jittery footsteps, his nervous gait only coming to a halt when he was right next to his chair.

"Yes?"

After he shook himself out of his work-induced stupor, Dio turned to face him in full.

Doppio reported without delay, "I'm worried about Kira-san..." However, that did nothing to hide the worried look on his face.

"Well, go on then, what do you have to say?" Still, it only took a little pushing on Dio's end to get his answer.

"Well, he told me not to tell but..." He took a deep breath and began to recite what had occurred just a few minutes ago…